Send Ye Back to the Land of Gods
by YamiTenshi
Summary: It was unlike anything they had seen. The hunter cut open his hand and extended it. Was it a kamuy? Between struggling to avoid those who sought to enslave them and a peculiar visitor, the Hamuhu would be busy for quite some time... Giftfic NaruSasu


Send Ye Back to the Land of Gods

Inspired by a pic of Skully on her Y!Gallery page called 'Feeding' and then accidentally expanded into a story idea after stumbling upon the Ainu, who the tribe on this story are fairly heavily based around because they are cool and use stingray spikes as weapons. Also, the most important Ainu you should probably know before I start is 'kamuy' which means 'god'. They're animists, so… Yeah.

0o0

For nine full moons now, they had been pressed to leave the familiarity and bamboo grass houses of their kotan and wander the path of the river, seeking the perfect place for them to rest again. The wretched sisam had been enslaving their people, calling upon their skill with fishing by force. Villages had been pillaged without mercy in the midst of the night at uneven odds. They came in droves by horse and by foot, carrying swords, pikes, and spears. Like the ocean that sustained them, they came in great crashing waves that pounded their kotan into the sand until they were forced to surrender. Many in this group had heard of the falling of the Tomari, the Su'Asam, and even the great Kokkasapa had fallen prey to the sisam scourge. Worse still, the sisam had devilry on their side. Four moons prior to the raids, another sort of assault had been going on. In the time of the night when the land was its darkest, the creature came.

None knew its name or from whence it came, but it crept into unsuspecting households through the rorun-puyar, the eastern window where kamuy entered and would commence drinking the blood of residents in their beds. Those who underwent the intrusion on their person never seemed to remember the encounter, so the presence of the being was only discovered by a small child who had woken up to use the toilet and subsequently, wary family members who slept in shifts to ward off possible attacks. Some say that it traveled with kapap, flying blood drinkers, and that if you hung a kapap wing over your bed you would be safe from an intrusion. Several in the Hamuhu had tried the method-and found it failed miserably. If anything, the kapap wing seemed to invite assault. The creature mocked them as well, always taking the wing with it when it departed. Its presence made them deeply uneasy, though it never killed and only drank enough to sustain itself for one more day, which they respected greatly. It had that aspect of their value system, but the sheer unnaturalness was impossible to overlook. Theories shifted over time. Currently it had returned to 'kapap spirit' given a form more recognizable to mortals. They hoped they discerned its nature soon, seeing as they were currently responsible for it.

After one of the councilmen's daughters had been fed upon, the Hamuhu villagers felt the need to put their foot down. No one was safe from this peculiarity, technically harmless though it may be. The thought of harming the thing was abhorrent. If it entered through the rorun-puyar, it may very well be a kamuy. A strange, blood-drinking kamuy, but still a kamuy nonetheless. They did not wish to harm or kill it, merely capture it so they could talk it into leaving. Their initial attempts failed and seemed to serve to enrage the creature, which had thus far seemed meek and unassuming. It lashed out at those who attempted to get in its way, knocking them flying with a swipe of its claws like they had been rammed by a deer running at full speed. Had those it struck not been young and healthy, the blow would have killed them. So they called upon one of their hunters, who had been on a personal quest at the time and returned to find Hamuhu in panic, to take care of business. He set a snare and offered himself up as a potential meal for the creature, hanging the kapap wing above his bed like the others had in their failed defense, creating a lure of the leathery wing instead. Surely enough, the creature came through his rorun-puyar that night and stalked across the house to his bedside in order to feed. The second his foot landed in the place the hunter expected it to, his snare was triggered. With an almighty howl, the creature was dragged in a thrashing mass to the ceiling. His clansmen waiting in arms sprang into action, dragging in a huge box that the hunter lowered the creature into and much rejoicing was to be had.

No one knew what to do with the thing and so for nine days, deliberations were held. They decided, since there was an off chance that it was a kamuy, that the hunter should take care of it. Partially so they wouldn't be the first target of its outrage if it happened to be an angry monster that wasn't a kamuy, partially because the hunter was in the business of caring for a kamuy anyway. The timing of the matter was convenient too, since the Kucan had just gotten old enough to leave her current heperset and the log pen could easily be broken down and transformed into a cage to fit the creature perfectly. They were loath to open that box after the creature had been so tightly confined for so many days, but again the hunter was glad to handle the matter. With the skill that had gotten him his secondary job of being the bear keeper, he coaxed the creature into the heperset with the entire village looking on.

It was their first time to get a good look at the creature and all were astonished. Sloe-eyed, with an earthy brown-grey tint to its milky skin, ears that had a curious pointed shape, claws like a lynx, and with wild soot-black hair that seemed to defy any will it may have had about laying flat. His dark eyes probed the crowd and he turned his back on them, growling in his throat. The hunter cut open the palm of his non-dominant hand and offered it through the gaps in the cage. With a concerted effort to ignore the mere mortal, the hunter found himself standing there for-as he was later told-fifteen hours straight until the creature seemed to notice that no one else was around and he turned around, licked the scab off the slowly healing wound on his capturer's palm, and began to slurp the fresh trickle of blood. It seemed to stop breathing during the feeding, a tremendous feat since the event lasted nearly twenty minutes, focused solely on restoring his health. As the creature lapped, the hunter patted its head and tickled its throat like his friend did to his dog and since the thing showed no outward hatred towards the act; the hunter continued it even after he withdrew his hand. Since that night, he had not fed it human blood, replacing it with animal blood from tribe kills. The creature's eating habits horrified and fascinated the Hamuhu who, like their brethren in the other tribes, did not eat raw meat, let alone drink pure blood with the exception of Iomante.

But just as they were getting used to its presence in their land, the sisam appeared on the war path and they were forced to pack up and leave or end up slaves to the wretched men. Perhaps ironically, sisam slave chains were used to restrain the creature, which put up no fight as he was shackled and led away alongside the Kucan. And now, nine months from that day, they were still wandering the river. Many stole away for the sea when they could, trying to return some normality to their life with fishing and hunting the seabirds, and though it was a great risk that could mean exposure to the sisam, all were pleased when the hunters returned with fresh fish they could not find in the river which provided so graciously for them.

It was beside this river that the story begins in true, with Naruto the hunter softly singing of the Koro-pok-guru as he refitted his neighbor's tonkori with new gut strings in preparation for Iomante. Had he been alone, children would have been swarming around him, trying to listen to the story. But the creature was with him, sleeping on the warm grass in its chains. Toes twitched and clawed fingers grasped at dreams that evaded it. Once Naruto finished, he planted the chain in the ground and hurried back to the crude houses they'd built for their rest on this part of the river to return the tonkori. When he came back, the creature was still sleeping and there was no worry in his heart that it would wake up anytime soon. Much to his surprise, however, a kapap had crawled under the creature's chin and nuzzled into his neck, hiding its sensitive eyes with the creature's dark hair. Kapap had been following them since they left the village, as anyone with half an ear could tell you. Until now, they had kept the dark their domain.

Naruto patted both creatures and longed for the hunt. Ever since he'd taken up care of the creature, he had done virtually no hunting. His bow skills were only prevented from becoming rusty by constant practice at shooting birds that made the unwise decision to fly too close to them. Many ravens were obtained this way, half of which he gave to the creature, who graciously plucked their feathers and licked their naked skin off to get to the blood inside. Once in a while, a rabbit would appear, but never any big game like deer or bears, aside from the occasional mother with cubs that he could not touch for risk of losing his life. He wanted to prepare another bear trap soon and bring a great deal of meat to his people, but could never find the time. Little odd jobs were always appearing that he found himself performing without question. Weaving mats, repairing roofs, taking care of children-if the creature was put back in the rebuilt heperset-all were done to fill his days and at the very least, make them interesting.

On the other side of the riverbank, a rabbit fed upon the lush grass, stepping forward occasionally once it had worn a particular patch bare. The fellow would make for a nice dinner, so he slowly drew his bow and notched an arrow, ignoring the sloe-eyed creature shifting beside him. As he aimed, three blurs shot past him and converged on the rabbit with great speed, picking it up into the air and flying the thrashing rodent over the river and offering it to Naruto. Acting quickly, Naruto grabbed the rabbit by the scruff of its neck, thanked it for its sacrifice, and slit its throat with his dagger. The creature was immediately awake, staring intently at the rabbit as blood flowed out of its neck. The kapap trio that had snatched up the rabbit squeaked and departed, followed by the one that had been on his strange companion's shoulder. Keeping a firm hold on the rabbit, he extended the animal outward towards the creature, which eagerly lapped up the blood until it stopped flowing. Still hungry, he licked the bloodstained grass until he had thoroughly cleansed the earth.

"Did you send those kapap to attack the rabbit, kuykuy?"

The creature laid back down, closing its dark eyes. As usual, it said nothing. Naruto supposed that the thing didn't have a voice and aside from the occasional growl, no noises were ever emitted by the beast.

"Kunne."

That was the name he had given it, though he never used it around the other tribesmen. They might remove him from his duty as the keeper of this oddity if they thought he was getting too attached and free it, abandon it here in the wilderness and try to run from whatever curses it may cast in its displeasure. Could one cast a curse without words? Naruto did not know for certain, as the Hamuhu did not deal in such wicked trades. The Su'Asam were better known for that.

"Kunne kuykuy."

The creature rolled over, turning his back on Naruto with a low growl, warning that further provocation would be defended against accordingly.

"Kemus Kunne."

The growl rumbled deeper in its throat, messy hair bristling.

"Kunne kupapa. Look at me." Naruto slapped the thing on its shoulder, earning a vicious snarl. "I know you hear me. You may be a kamuy, but you have no reason to be rude to me. Did you send the kapap to attack the rabbit?"

Much to his surprise, the creature turned back towards Naruto, crawling closer to him on its belly like a whipped dog. Whining as it carefully positioned himself so he was always below Naruto's eyelevel, the creature continued to make pitiful noises until Naruto patted its head. The creature cupped the hunter's hands in its own, rubbing its face against it. Naruto almost drew away in shock. The thing had never shown affection towards him before. The creature lowered his head and began to lick the back of Naruto's hand, never breaking eye contact with the hunter. The feel of its tongue was like wet sand, stroking along the bones in his hand over and over. Eventually the creature tired there and nipped at a knuckle until Naruto unclenched his fist and cautiously extended his digits. Now the creature closed its eyes, focusing its attention on the hunter's forefinger, curling its rough tongue around it, sucking and lapping until it was borderline painful. Apparently attuned to Naruto's discomfort, the creature ceased its tonguework and began nibbling on the nail instead, its odd ears pressed back flat in seeming pleasure.

"Did you send the kapap to attack the rabbit, kupapa?"

The creature stopped biting immediately and stared up at Naruto.

"You'll tell me?"

Undulating his tongue, the creature began to suck again, opening its mouth to reveal its fangs and the spittle that dripped from them. With one slender finger, it stroked down its throat and stopped at the stomach, miming its desire.

"You'll tell me if I let you drink some of my blood?"

Naruto could literally _hear_ saliva squirting into the creature's mouth and judging by the enraptured look on its face as it shamelessly drooled all over his finger, he supposed that was a yes.

"Only a little, or I'll hit you," Naruto warned the creature.

Moaning impatiently, the creature began sucking all the excess saliva off Naruto's finger and lapping harder until it cast away care and carefully sunk a fang shallowly into his fingertip. To its disappointment, the pay was paltry. Only a few measly drops hit its tongue and so it immediately went back to begging, licking Naruto's palm over the invisible scar where it had been cut the first time it had fed upon the hunter. Sighing, Naruto picked up his knife and cut across his hand. The creature drank for about ten minutes, sealing the wound with its spittle after he had sated himself. Naruto stared at his completely healed hand with amazement. Perhaps this being was a kamuy after all.

"Kunne, did you send the kapap to attack the rabbit?" Naruto asked slowly. "Lick once for yes, twice for no."

Tilting his head, the creature stared at him as if he only had half a brain. "Not Kunne. Name Sasuke. Yes."

And Naruto could not think of a single thing to say to that.

* * *

><p>As always when the day departed and painted the sky inky blue-black, Sasuke became the most active he was at any given time. For something that had such deeply rooted nocturnal behavior, Naruto wondered if he should be romping around in the sunlight with it as much as he did. Lack of caring from the thing indicated that it probably did not matter, but he felt a twinge of guilt all the same. Being diurnal meant that their schedules never properly lined up and no matter which way he changed it, someone was not going to be completely content with the result. He merely put his schedule first because, kamuy or not, he was the one who did all the work around here.<p>

Five nights in total had come and gone since Naruto had heard the creature speak for the first time. Sasuke, as it called itself, was still only capable of uttering the simplest of words and their names despite Naruto's exerted efforts to teach him more. Whether it was just a stroke of luck that it learned anything to say anyway or just sheer disinterest in their tongue, they were currently at a linguistic stalemate. Unfortunately, with the new will to speak came another language from the creature, one that sounded uncomfortably like the one the sisam used and insisted prattling on in it, peppered with expectant looks towards Naruto. Apparently he expected him to know it. After hearing his name in a dozen sentences spoken in filthy sisam tongue, Naruto could not take it any longer and demanded the creature stopped. Evidently taking pleasure in his distress, the creature flowed into a non-stop stream of sisam monologue that made Naruto's stomach do flips. In a rage, he took his club and beat the shackled creature until it surrendered and returned to using the fractured bits of the keeper's preferred language.

As a result, Sasuke had been in a foul mood the entire evening. He had tripped Naruto once, kicked or clawed at him no less than five times, and worn himself hoarse snarling and growling. The noise from the hut had deeply worried his neighbor Kiba, who felt the need to come and check up on him and wouldn't leave until he personally saw Naruto club Sasuke in the head again, which made him even angrier when the other hunter left. Putting Sasuke back into his cage was considered at length, but Naruto figured that this nasty behavior would cease once the creature was in a better state of mind and he thought he knew just the thing to cure its ails.

Though he was not entirely sure, he would easily bet his mother's shitoki that Sasuke's change correlated with consumption of human blood, which he had abstained from giving him again in these past days. Around the moon's peak he approached Sasuke, who was curled up on the hides Naruto had laid out for him for this unusually extended stay. The second he was in four feet of the creature, a swarm of kapap came in through one of the windows and settled on Sasuke in a squeaking heap of wings and fur. Light from his fire pit revealed Sasuke opening his mouth in a wide gape and choking up a spray of blood that he coughed onto the kapap, which squeaked gleefully and turned into a frenzied mob, licking each other to earn their prize. Once the blood fountain was finished providing, his body went still and the kapap departed to do their own hunting.

Naruto couldn't even tell if Sasuke was breathing. "What was that?"

"Feed friend share." Sasuke sat on his haunches, making a chuffing noise as he rubbed his face against Naruto's thigh. Lithely muscled arms twined around his legs and Naruto still did not know how to respond to these displays, opting to pet the creature on the head. "You friend share me."

Naruto did not get his suspicions confirmed until he saw the creature turn his face up and run his tongue over his fangs. "You want more blood."

"Feed friend share." Sasuke pressed his nose into Naruto's palm and listened to the flow of blood, giving a full-body shudder in pleasure.

Naruto had to remove Sasuke from his leg before he could kneel down and offer his palm. Immediately Sasuke began to lick the space he intended to drink from and Naruto could not fight the shiver that danced up his spine. The rough tongue sloughed off the outermost layers of his skin, revealing pinkish flesh beneath. Oozing drool over the spot to dull the pain the skin scraping had brought, Sasuke licked a concise circle around the spot and withdrew his mouth. Poising a claw, he cut into Naruto's flesh and watched the blood well up. Naruto could not help feeling somewhat repulsed now that he had completely come to terms with the fact that this was what the creature did for sustenance every single day. He hadn't minded it as much when it was animal blood that was being consumed, but this was his own life force being drained into that thing's mouth. Sasuke must have cut deeper than Naruto had because the feeding started to get messy, warm blood dribbling down the hunter's wrist and Sasuke simply wasn't able to keep up with it as it beaded into tiny drops and trickled to the ground. Irate at this wastefulness, Sasuke growled and opened his mouth wide. Impossibly wide. Jaw cracking as it shifted, Sasuke's fanged mouth became a perfect 120 degree angle and Naruto cursed loudly as the thing closed that unnatural mouth completely around his hand and wrist. He fought the urge to beat the creature with his club again and try to yank his hand free, knowing that would only result in further injury. The creature neither gagged nor choked on what it kept inside its maw and simply continued on as if he was casually eating a piece of well-cooked rabbit.

Without a doubt, they were the longest ten minutes of Naruto's life. When he finished, Sasuke sealed up the wound and released Naruto's hand. Repulsed by how it dripped with slime, Naruto smeared it on Sasuke's chest. See how the thing liked _that_. Staring blankly at him, the creature ignored the cooling saliva. It contemplated the new things it had gleaned from the hunter's blood.

"Kapap are friends. I share food with them. They share food with me." Sasuke yawned, nose crinkling as his jaw stretched, though not to that impossible angle again. "You feed me. You are friend too."

"Thank you, I think." Naruto sat in lotus position before the pale creature. Now that the line of communication was somewhat patched up, there was something he had to ask. "Sasuke is your name, right?"

"My name is Sasuke. Yes."

"Are you kamuy or something else?" Naruto closed his hand around the knife he kept beside his bed.

Sasuke went silent for a long time. He closed his eyes, the lids dark under the dwindling fire pit's light. Naruto prepared to stab the creature through the heart, if necessary.

"Something else. But not evil."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not evil. I just am."

Once more its eyes appeared, two pitch black pits in the center of its white face. Naruto shivered and loosened his grip on the knife a Lilliputian degree before releasing it completely and opting to trust the creature that had been in his care for this long. It'd had many opportunities to harm him prior to now and hadn't taken any of them. He believed in this creature.

"Do you have a gender? You look okkay but I suppose you could also be a smooth matne."

"Okkay. Like you... Yes?"

"Yes, I'm okkay. Do you not have a ci?"

Sasuke seemed to find this a curious question. His clawed fingers went down to the spot on his body where Naruto's kind would have their shamelessly flopping genitals. There was a faint round bump against the otherwise smooth triangle of skin between his thighs. One fingertip was pressed there and another slid up somewhat further to an almost invisible slit in his lower abdomen. Naruto had seen that sort of thing in snakes before, though he had not thought it possible in something that was outwardly so similar to humans. But to know for sure now that it was not in fact a masculine matne was somewhat embarrassing when he realized he'd spent the last nine months looking at a naked okkay.

"This is my ciyehe." Sasuke worked a nail between the seam where his ci would extend from, revealing glistening, dark blue flesh for a brief second.

Naruto sincerely hoped that Sasuke never felt compelled to show him the full glory of his peculiar ci. He feared what it would look like. Hopefully, he could dissuade such behavior preemptively. He rose to his feet, cracking his tired joints. "I'll get you a tepa. And some other clothes too."

"Time for the cage?"

Guilt stirred in the pit of Naruto's stomach as he put out his fire. To put something that could speak and have rational thought and for all intents and purposes _looked_ human felt wrong now. "No. You may stay here tonight if you promise not to run away. I will make a bed for you as well."

Distancing himself from the creature as far as he could while still occupying space in his bed, Naruto waited for Sasuke to drift off so he could sleep easy. An hour or so passed, listening to the rhythm of his breath and contemplating just how very peculiar this creature he was entrusted with was. He would have to tread carefully from here on out. Heaven only knew what the thing was capable of. Figuring Sasuke would be asleep by now, he rolled over and repositioned his head. It was that faint glitter in the moonlight, the twinkle of opened eyes that alerted him. For this entire time, Sasuke had been staring at him. It did not seem to have predatory intent nor any real interest at all in him. Curiously though, it seemed to have ceased breathing. Naruto touched its neck and found a pulse. Sasuke said nothing, only stared. Flesh crawling, Naruto made the sign to ward off the evil eye.

Slowly, his mouth opened and revealed those long teeth as he wetted his dry lips with his tongue. "You want to know? The name of my people."

"Yes." Naruto withdrew his hand, clenching it shut. He had had enough of being fed upon today.

"Your kind has no word for it." Sasuke paused. "But we call ourselves 'upiri'."

The creature's twinkling eyes shut and it immediately went to sleep, leaving Naruto to wonder.

* * *

><p>The upiri was still sleeping in Naruto's bed when sirpeker came and there was too much to do for him to wait for it to get up. Atop making a bed, gathering plants for the dye he intended to use for Sasuke's attusi, and begin construction of the clothes themselves, he also had his regular duties of carving inaw, fishing, and caring for the Kucan. He had a pile of sticks to carve already, delivered to his house sometime the day prior by the children of the village. Finding his inawke-makiri in his neatly organized bundle of tools, he sat at the foot of his bed and began to carve rapidly. He had made so many inaw by now that the motions had become automatic. Before long, he was almost through the pile of sticks. Movement behind him alerted him to the awakened state of his guest and Sasuke crawled up the bed, resting his head on Naruto's shoulder and yawning.<p>

"What is that?" he inquired as he watched Naruto's hands move swiftly along the stick. He had seen a number of them in the makeshift villages they intermittently camped in.

"Inaw. They keep away bad spirits." Naruto set down his inawke-makiri and waved the stick in Sasuke's face. "See, if you were a bad spirit, you would have disappeared."

"I want to make one."

Naruto slapped the spot on the ground beside him and handed Sasuke a stick. Guiding the upiri's blue-veined hands through the process, he enlightened him on the best way to peel the bark and how to get the prettiest curls when cutting. While Naruto encouraged the creature to take it slow, Sasuke seemed determined to be able to make them as swiftly as Naruto had.

"Hey, you're getting reckless now. Look how sloppy this curl is. Not pretty at all. You won't chase away any evil spirits with this, now will you?" Naruto scolded as he took back the knife and proceeded to show Sasuke the correct way again. "Making inaw is a skill you must learn over time. When I made my first inaw, it took me the entire day."

Appalled at this new revelation, Sasuke carved even faster than he had before, trying to get the perfect spirals Naruto had created.

"No, no, no! You're doing it all wrong, you fool-and now you've cut yourself. Of course."

Sasuke's blood trickled blue like the deepest depths of the ocean, staining the curls he had made. Hissing in pain, the upiri spat on his thumb and watched the saliva sizzle as the wound closed up. With a growl, he begrudgingly allowed Naruto to show him a final time and went along with the slower carving pace.

"I have to take care of my other duties now. Stay here until you finish that inaw. Do not walk around the village by yourself. I will come back for you."

Too focused on the inaw to answer, the upiri didn't make so much as a peep in protest. The hunter left his home and began asking the women of the village to gather rushes from the banks. A few who had the time agreed to do so, unconcerned by the lack of Sasuke's presence. He suspected they assumed he was in his cage. He wondered how long before someone saw an empty cage and then Naruto roaming around alone. Panic would surely spread through the village and he wasn't quite ready to explain that Sasuke could talk because he'd broken the rules and given it his blood. Things had to be done quickly.

On his way to the river, he asked a group of older children to collect an uncolored and undecorated attusi as well as several different types of plant to dye it the colors he thought would look best on Sasuke. They agreed-if he would tell them a story later. Figuring it to be a fair price, Naruto sent them on their way. As he was about to resume walking, a small hand laid upon his back, the owner of which was a girl he knew wanted to marry him. She said very little, but he had a sort of fondness for her all the same. She presented him with a basket of fresh fish and said it was for the Kucan.

"Hello Hinata." Naruto accepted the basket and shifted it to his hip. "I see you are as beautiful as ever."

Hinata blushed deeply. "Naruto, you really should not say such things in public. People might think we're courting."

"If that's so, perhaps you should not give me so many presents," Naruto teased. "Thank you for those fish owl feathers. I dyed them last week and they took the color beautifully. And those beads were pretty as well. You have a gift for carving bone. I daresay I'll be the most handsomely dressed man in the village before long. Then I'll _have _to marry you for making me look so good."

Hinata pressed her hands to her pretty face, blushing deeper still. "Naruto!"

"Would you like me to make you a tamasay for all your troubles?"

"I could never ask for something so-"

"Consider it done." Naruto laughed mirthfully at her expression. "You really are pirka menoko, Hinata. You will make a man very happy someday, even if it is not me."

Turning his gaze to the side, he caught Kiba staring at them as he suspected his fellow hunter would be and laughed again as the man darted away, furious and embarrassed at being caught spying.

"Naruto, I-"

"Oh, he adores you. And I suspect that you have something that burns in your heart for him as well. Go give _him_ a present for once."

Hinata wrung her hands nervously. "Alright. I suppose it couldn't hurt... though I can't say the same for my sister."

"Does she have feelings for me now as well?" Naruto grinned. Hanabi would be a beauty too, when she was older. For now, he would let the eight year old fixate on him for a while and wait for her to grow out of her infatuation. "For someone who hasn't felt very useful as of late, I feel quite honored that someone can regard me so fondly."

Sighing, Hinata seemed to calm her nerves and whispered, "I'm fear you are three for three in our family."

"What? How? Did your mother have another child I'm not aware of?" Such things happened on occasion.

"No."

"Then..." Naruto arrived at the logical conclusion. "Ah! You don't mean-"

"My brother has been whispering your name in his sleep for nearly a year now."

Naruto shook his head. Had anyone but Hinata told him this, he would declare them bamboozlers intent on sheer deceit. "I only ever spoke to him that one time, didn't I? When he attacked me because he thought I was unworthy for your affection? How did this happen?"

"I could not say."

"Well, I suppose it's not all terrible. He's pirka kur and pirka okkay!" Naruto chortled as Hinata blushed again. "Your family is full of lovely people, Hinata."

"I'm sure he will be glad to hear you say that," Hinata managed. Naruto was always freehanded with his praise and it made her bashful.

"Don't tell him I said that!" This time, Naruto was the one to blush. "I don't intend to have him huddling up next to me on the next long hunt!"

Hinata smiled. "Even though you think he's pirka okkay?"

"Hinata, you wound me." Naruto pressed his hand to his chest. "I suppose if you can stand the thought of your brother coming to me to comfort him, then that is quite alright. I'll bring my swords over tomorrow and ask for his hand."

"Goodbye, Naruto." Hinata giggled as she turned to leave.

"Don't forget to talk to Kiba!"

She merely gave a small, mysterious smile that Naruto had seen in foxes he'd hunted after evading capture and resumed her daily duties. Happy to have cut one of the more time consuming parts of his day, he proceeded straight onward to the heperset and greeted the anxiously awaiting bear. He patted her brown snout and offered up a fish, which she gladly took. Sitting before the pen, he watched her tear into the flesh of her meal. She looked healthy enough and the pen had been recently expanded to give her more room to move in. It was much larger than Sasuke's cage, though they started off as the same thing, now that he thought about it. The upiri must've been cramped, having to spend his nights in there.

"Naruto!"

"Yes, Konohamaru?" Naruto queried as the little boy tromped up behind him. He fed the Kucan another fish. "What do you want?"

"I brought it for you!"

Dreading what he would see, Naruto turned around. Konohamaru stood hand in hand with the upiri who was supposed to have been at home. The boy was a fourth of the creature's height and could easily be slaughtered if the mood struck it, but he seemed happily unaware of the potential danger he had put himself in. Grumbling under his breath, he thanked Konohamaru by giving him a fish to take home to his mother and took hold of the chain to rescue him from Sasuke's fickle moods. He hoped Sasuke had not said anything about wanting blood from the child. After he allowed the boy to feed the Kucan a fish, he sent him home and was alone with the creature once more.

"Sit." Naruto commanded sternly.

Sasuke sat, hair bristling at the notion of being ordered around thusly, but he extended his finished inaw anyway, awaiting approval from his keeper. He thought it looked perfect and he'd done it faster than Naruto said his first time had taken. He hoped he was rewarded with the coppery tang of fresh blood. Signaling his intent, he opened his mouth and licked his fangs. Quickly checking that no one was around to watch, he extended his palm to let Sasuke prepare to feed. While the upiri went around its messy business-fortunately it did not do the disturbing jaw trick this time-Naruto commented on the inaw. Bark was peeled off too far in certain places, the carving had gotten lazy or hasty in others, and the bloodstain really didn't help either. Sasuke would growl loudly whenever he disagreed, which was at almost every single point Naruto attempted to make. They finally finished and Sasuke, having essentially been told that his efforts had resulted in a piece of garbage not worthy of existence, proceeded to try walk away so he could brood for an hour or two.

"Get back over here, fool." Naruto yanked on the chain.

"I understand your view. You loathe it. Leave me be." Sasuke pulled back, aiming to yank it out of Naruto's grasp.

Refusing to be spurned, Naruto yanked another foot of the chain closer and wrapped it around his hand, drawing it tauter as he stomped towards the upiri. "You're going to look the Kucan in the face and apologize to her for being so rude in her presence. You didn't even greet her."

"No."

They were face to face now, a tight grip on the link that joined the collar with the chain Naruto held. With a great effort, Naruto forced Sasuke to his hands and knees. He was sure the upiri was not back at its full strength and he did not dare to imagine what the creature could do to him if it was. He could only pray that the upiri would not seek revenge for this act if he continued to feed it. With his free hand, he firmly grabbed Sasuke by the back of his neck and dragged him forward like a disobedient dog fighting punishment, eking forward inch by inch. Sasuke snarled and snapped and tried to struggle back to his feet, only to have Naruto yank him down again. Naruto absolutely could not lose this match. This had gone beyond childishly lashing out and bad manners. If he let Sasuke get away with this, the upiri would think it could walk all over him whenever it wished.

Tugging at a moment when the hunter's balance lacked a solid foundation almost got Sasuke to freedom, but the man recovered quickly and jerked him back to where he'd started so hard that he could not stop the yelp that leapt out of his aching throat. Naruto felt slightly less resistance after that, but it still took all of his strength and several kicks in the rump to get the upiri back in front of the Kucan.

Sasuke hissed at the bear. "Stupid animal. No better than the one holding my leash."

Naruto refused to display how much forcing the upiri over here had drained him and kicked him again. "Mind your mouth or I'll put you back in the box for a fortnight."

That seemed to strike a chord, as Sasuke shuddered for a brief second, face immediately solidifying back into disdain. "You dumb beast."

"I am not-"

Sasuke hocked a great gooey wad of spit into the hunter's open mouth.

Shock paralyzed Naruto momentarily, making him forget to immediately spit out the foreign fluid and when he tried, Sasuke pounced on him. Wrapping one arm around Naruto's jaw, he clenched it shut and with his unoccupied hand, he pinched Naruto's nostrils closed. Cursing at him in both the wretched sisam language and a completely foreign tongue that sounded like he was gargling rocks, Sasuke watched the hunter struggle to balance keeping a tight grip on the chain, returning the assault, and not passing out from oxygen deprivation. Naruto punched him twice with the chain-wrapped hand, which left big bruises on his shoulder and cheek respectively.

"Swallow!" Sasuke snarled. "Swallow it!"

After a minute of struggling, he felt the lump in Naruto's throat move and released the man, who coughed violently and gasped for breath. His eyes watered as the fire in his lungs ebbed away. To think that this monster was lurking beneath that silent facade he'd grown so used to. "You betrayed my trust and now I'm going to put you back in that box, where you belong!"

"A fine thank you that is, considering what I just did."

He wanted him to show gratitude for that? "What game do you play, kemus anun?"

"You're not tired anymore, are you?" Sasuke huffed, face tinted blue from the exertion of fighting against the other man. "In fact, I'm certain you feel more rested and alert than you did this morning."

Confused, Naruto assessed his mental and physical states. This was in fact, true. After he'd caught his breath, it was like the whole tussle had never happened. Upiri saliva was a strange thing. "Next time, warn me if you intend to do something bizarre. Now apologize to the Kucan."

"Accept my apology for being disrespectful." Sasuke bowed to the bear and retrieved his inaw. Dropping his voice, he muttered, "I'll be more conscientious of your advice the next time I make one."

Naruto hadn't been expecting that. In fact, he was almost touched that Sasuke was attempting to make amends. He thanked the upiri and promised to help him next time, instead of just leaving him on his own. He was so heartened by Sasuke's willingness to learn that he discussed the other things that he could teach him so he could become a functioning member of the tribe, not noticing how Sasuke was tentatively edging closer to him until they were shoulder to shoulder. He licked Naruto's tattooed cheek.

"Feed me again?" he asked hopefully, tracing playful circles on Naruto's back with his claws.

Exhaling deeply through his nose, Naruto gave up. The thing was only interested in furthering its own cause. "No. I do not give you permission to feed again. You may have a fish instead."

Sasuke frowned. "I don't want a fish."

"You shouldn't be here in the first place. I told you not to leave my house. You're lucky you didn't get killed on the way here."

"I had someone with me."

"So?"

"So you said not to walk around by myself. I had someone with me. I wasn't by myself." Sasuke tapped Naruto's leg with his curved nails. "Not my fault you're bad at giving directions. How about your leg? I haven't eaten from that yet."

"I'm not going to feed you again."

Upon hearing this determination, Sasuke fell slack and refused to move from this spot. The hunter had to carry him all the way home in a heap of fuming deadweight. He left the rest of the fish for the Kucan in case she too got hungry again.

* * *

><p>Happiness came with silence. Naruto realized this now that Sasuke's linguistics had caught up to an almost perfect fluidity. Day in and day out, pestering for more blood was steadily driving him mad. For personal reasons he had abstained from feeding the upiri the life that flowed through his veins after the events at the heperset and as a result, he had been licked, nuzzled, and nibbled halfway insane. With each new sunrise, the desperation made the amorous behavior intensify and the insolent acts grew in number and magnitude as well. Somehow between dealing with increasingly childish and violent tantrums and shameless flattery, he managed to finish Sasuke's bed and had gotten enough plants to dye Sasuke's robe. Currently he was cutting geometric patterns out of plain white fabric to go on the robe when he felt it begin again. Teeth on his shoulder, tongue slathering the skin between them to make it slippery and numb as arms draped themselves around him from behind. The initiation of the daily dalliances.<p>

"I did a good job on my inaw today, didn't I?"

Sasuke rolled his fingers in a fluid line across Naruto's belly. Abandoning the shoulder, he ran his tongue up the hunter's neck, moaning at the powerful rush of blood he could hear. Next he began chewing on the man's ear, occasionally stopping to rub his nose in the thick mane of yellow hair and making noises that indicated his need. He could not be ignored.

"Yes, you did." Naruto pretended to be dumb to Sasuke's intent, merely brushing him away and continuing to cut the pattern. "You have improved greatly."

"Don't you think I should be _rewarded_ for my work?" His mouth closed on Naruto's throat and began to suck at the warm flesh, hands tightening in the fabric of the man's attusi.

"Hard work is its own reward." This would be a nice scrap to stitch a design on. He set the piece aside.

Sasuke keened at yet another rejection. Naruto hadn't heard a creature this vocal since Kiba had denied his dog access to a bitch in heat. "You haven't given me blood in so long, Naruto. Do you not care that I'm wasting away to nothingness?"

"You wouldn't be if you would just drink the animal blood I've been trying to provide you."

"Your kind isn't as gamey. It doesn't compare in the slightest."

"Then why haven't you tried to bite me in my sleep like you did with all those other people? You're almost as strong as I am. If you got the upper hand, you might be able to have your way." He didn't dare speak the fact that he knew Sasuke had monstrous strength. Giving the creature ideas was the last thing he needed to do.

"It tastes better when the provider gives permission." Sasuke bit into Naruto's shoulder and gave a violent shiver when the blood hit his tongue, making sure to heal it quickly. "So bitter... That's why I only ever took a little from your kind at a time."

"I will not feed you."

"You're cruel." Sasuke drew away from him and curled up on his bed. "What do you want me to do? I already beg like a dog for it."

"Drink the animal blood. You did it for many moons with us." Naruto seemed satisfied at the pattern he'd cut and went to check on the robe, adjusting it so the dye would be even throughout the fabric.

"I can't. You're telling me the equivalent of me giving you the most delicious meat in your life and then insisting you eat nothing but intestines afterward."

Naruto began to stitch together the red triangular pattern onto the over-vest. He thought it would go well with the robe when it was finished dyeing. "Don't talk to me right now. I need to focus on this. If you behave well and you allow me to finish your outfit, I will feed you."

Sasuke watched the hunter work, brow furrowed in concentration. Once Naruto had finished applying a piece, he asked him, "How long will it take?"

"Patience. It will take however long I need. Drink the animal blood while you wait."

"I will not drink that filth." Now he knew why upiri went mad with hunger after tasting this kind.

Surrendering to the schedule of Naruto's whim, Sasuke laid down and dreamed of the next time he'd be able to drink that blood. By the time sirkunne had fallen, Naruto had finished half of the front side of the vest and figured that was enough for now. He checked his water jug and found it to be empty. Stretching out his body for the first time in hours, he picked up the earthen vessel and headed for the river. Though darkness was coming, there were still a few people wandering about. One was studying the river bank intently and Naruto walked over and found deer tracks and a pile of feces in the area being surveyed.

"Looks like an overnight hunt may be in order," Naruto remarked.

The other man looked up, jolted back into reality from his thoughts. "Naruto. I did not hear you coming. Yes, it appears that way. I was about to assemble a small party."

"Sounds like it'll be a nice hunt." Naruto let his eyes wander down the river, watching the rushes ripple in the cool evening breeze. "I wish you fortune."

"Actually... I was wondering... If you would like to be part of the party." The man wrung his hands for a brief second. Naruto couldn't help but smile. He really was just like his sister.

"I would love it, Neji. The creature has been grating on my sanity lately. Begging constantly for food..." Naruto bemoaned his woes of Sasuke's recent misbehavior, careful to not let slip that he could speak now or that he had a name or that anything significant had changed. He slowed when he noticed Neji was staring at his face. "What? Is something wrong?"

Again Neji was roused from a waking dream. "I'm sorry. I was just admiring your tattoos. I'll be getting mine in a moon."

Naruto barely even thought of the swirling red marks, despite them being a symbol of great dignity and strength. "Oh, is that so? I think you'll get good ones. It hurts, but you're strong. I doubt you'll shed a single tear."

"My father said the same thing."

Feeling in a bit of playful mood, Naruto said, "If it gets to be overwhelming, I'll be there to hold your hand."

Neji's cheeks tinted pink. Hyuuga were notoriously bad at hiding their embarrassment, but Naruto had to admit that Neji almost had it down pat. "You would be my witness? No one else has offered yet."

"You like my tattoos, so I'll make sure that she gives you something that you like too. Something that suits you." Naruto tapped Neji's forehead. "I know just the mark to go here."

Suspicious of this kindness, Neji began to drew up his walls. "You're not just doing this as a favor to Hinata, are you?"

"I'm doing this because I want to."

"Thank you." Neji gave him a short bow. "I expect you will be ready by sirpeker."

Before Naruto could respond, Neji was walking away stiffly. Unable to resist the temptation, he followed Neji. Remaining thirty paces behind him at all times, he stuck to the shadows and remained mindful to the presence of other villagers who could catch him stalking the young man and draw conclusions he did not wish them to reach. Neji, seeming intent on doing the same, took care of half the work for him and came to a halt behind a hut, shaking with excitement. His hands pressed to his fluttering heart.

"He talked to me... He really talked to me..."

Naruto paused to wonder if he was leading him on, but figured it was more important to find someone to watch Sasuke while he was gone and he knew just the person to ask.

* * *

><p>Supply check. Poison-tipped arrows, bow, quiver. Check. Waterskin, spear, enough dried meat to eat for a few days. Check. Hunting clothes? Naruto looked over himself. Dark red, blue, and a hint of orange in the garments themselves. Orange feathers on his headband, plus blue and orange beads on various parts of his person. Yes, he was easily going to be one of the most handsomely dressed men on this hunt. He made a mental reminder to find enough beads to make a tamasay to thank Hinata and prayed for a fortuitous hunt before he left his house. He was apparently the first to arrive and so he sat on the riverbank and used his reflection as a tool while he attempted to add the final touch, a hair ornament of orange feathers and a blue bead. It was proving more difficult than he originally imagined.<p>

"Need help?"

"I should've known you'd be one of the early ones." Naruto handed the ornament to Neji, who had a few of his own in his mane. Neji carefully wove the ornament into Naruto's thick, golden locks.

"You look... very nice."

"So do you."

Neji looked at Naruto's stomach and Naruto shrugged it off as examining this tattoo as well until he made a slightly concerned face.

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's probably nothing."

"Alright." Naruto began braiding grass out of boredom. "Who else is coming on this hunt?"

"Kiba and Shino. And Kiba's dog. What's that other bag on your back?"

"Something to occupy myself with when we've set up camp. I decided to make Sasuke some clothes." Naruto hadn't even realized his slip-up until he realized that Neji was staring at him. "Well, I've been dealing with the thing for so many moons now. What's wrong with giving it a name?"

"Naruto, I don't think it's wise to name something that might be a kamuy."

"I do not believe it is." He knew Sasuke wasn't. "But it's not evil either. I taught it how to make an inaw a few days ago and it has no problem being around them."

The look of absolute dread on Neji's face made him almost laugh. One would think he had just witnessed a man-eating bear devouring his family. "I don't believe you should be getting that familiar with that thing. One of the women told me that you made a bed for it and that it sleeps in your house now. Please take this duty seriously. It could very easily kill you."

"I do take my job very seriously." He wasn't taking _any_ chances, even though Sasuke said that he would not attack him for what he so deeply desired. His hand always remained under his pillow, grasping a knife, just in case. "And he's not going to kill me. He's like a big dog."

"It drinks blood."

"Well... a _different_ kind of dog."

"Kapap follow it around when you walk with it at night."

"A different kind of dog!"

"Promise me you'll never remove its chains. I would hate to see something horrible to happen to you because that thing tricked you." Neji bowed his head. "I would weep mightily for you at your funeral."

"I won't remove the chains."

The others arrived and they began the hunt, sending Kiba and Akamaru ahead to scout. When they picked up the scent, the rest of the group followed and they found a deer path through a low set of bushes. All the men had to hunch to under the branches and Naruto drew his knife in case they encountered anything. They had to tread lightly to avoid alerting anything that could be in the thicket, but the prints they found there were old and the droppings were dried out. They walked onward, Akamaru constantly sniffing for any signs of deer in the area. None of the men talked, focused on the task at hand. At noon they stopped to discuss strategies and potential locations while they slaked their thirst and staved off hunger with a light lunch of dried meat and nuts. The evening went much the same way as the day had, but they did place a couple traps in promising areas and set up camp.

Shino built the fire and the men chatted about recent business in their current location. Naruto noticed that Kiba was wearing a new necklace and innocently inquired if Hinata had said anything to him lately and the sputtering he was rewarded with suggested that she had followed his suggestion and talked to him. There was a heated discussion about whether their village would be moving within the next few moons, possibly as soon as after Iomante was over. But as all things, this came to an end and the party prepared to rest up for the continuation of the hunt tomorrow. Naruto excused himself so he could relieve himself and unsurprisingly, Neji offered to accompany him. Supposedly it was to ward off potential predators. Strength in numbers, the young man proclaimed. Naruto knew better but let it slide, in the unlikely event that he actually did get attacked by a bear.

Naruto dug a shallow hole, took a piss, then dropped his pants lower and squatted over the hole. After ten minutes of straining, nothing had come forth and he could hear Neji waiting for him. He apologized for taking so long and asked for another minute. From behind him, he felt a hand press on his lower abdomen and he yelped, springing away from Neji. The other two hunters called out, inquiring if he was alright and Naruto replied that he was, gawking wide eyed at Neji. He knew the man carried a torch for him, but he hadn't expected a physical assault this soon into the trip.

"As I thought. You've got a bear block. When was the last time you had a bowel movement?"

That didn't sound like intended sexual conquest. "Four or five days ago, I think..."

"You haven't been eating enough plants. You're going to be sick if it remains in there much longer. Come here. I'll try to break it up."

Naruto did and Neji laid his hand on the older man's abdomen. "Squat and relax your anus. Don't try to force anything out or you'll hurt yourself."

Though it felt weird to try to be doing this while someone was touching him, Naruto followed instruction. Neji began to press on his intestines, concentrating intently as he tried to locate the blockage. He murmured something about swelling, seemed to find something good, and jabbed his thumb hard into it. Grunting, Naruto felt something shift inside him and pushed, but all that came out was a tiny rabbit pellet.

"This... is a severe block. How are you not keeling over from the pain?"

"I just ignore it." It was more of an overly full sensation anyway, not pain.

"Absolutely no more meat until we fix this. I'll give you a proper treatment when we get home."

Naruto was heartbroken. Meat was the food of life. Hoping they at least procured some plants that were not absolutely foul, he tugged up his pants, buried the rabbit pellet, and trudged back to camp with Neji. Shino, who had been appointed the first watch, said nothing. Bidding his admirer a good night, Naruto finished the rest of the front of the vest and promptly fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next day, they made their rounds checking the traps. They found a raccoon dog in Shino's, nothing in Naruto's, a half-eaten rabbit in Neji's-his inexperience with traps had him set it too low-and, wonder of all wonders, a young doe in Kiba's. Thanking the kamuy, Kiba cut its throat and removed it from the trap. Happily chatting as he gutted the animal, Kiba intermittently gave his dog some of the innards, reminding Naruto of his own intestinal problems. His stomach grumbled. Neji had confiscated his dried meat and breakfast had been a miserable handful of wild roots and seeds. He sighed, hoping that Neji would at least allow him some of the deer when they returned to the village.

A movement in the distance drew his attention. A stag with three points on each horn was trying to discreetly remove himself from the situation. His hand went to Neji's elbow. Following Naruto's line of vision, Neji nodded imperceptibly and drew his bow. He notched an arrow and raised it, saying a quick prayer as he let the arrow fly. The deer screeched as the arrow embedded itself into its flank and began to dash.

"Chase!" Kiba commanded Akamaru, who crashed through the undergrowth after the deer, followed by Neji, Shino, and Naruto.

The deer bounded gracefully over fallen trees even with the arrow in its flank and Neji dropped to his knees, loaded another arrow and fired. This one skimmed past its head and the buck changed direction. Shino went to draw his own bow, but Naruto shook his head as they let Neji rush ahead of them. Akamaru's mad barking served as a constant location marker and even when they lost sight of the deer, they could follow the noise of the hound. For three long minutes of manic sprinting, they powered through the worse of the forest and chased the deer into a field. Neji went down again, firing three arrows in quick succession as Naruto and Shino routed the deer's attempts to change direction again by coming at it from both sides. One arrow buried itself in the flank again, the second whizzed through its antlers, and the final one struck it in the back of its neck. Increasingly disoriented by the poison on the arrows, the deer began to stagger and swung its head back and forth. Surging forward on the last bit of his energy, Neji dropped his bow, drew his knife and grabbed the deer by its horns. The thing tried to gore him a few times before it dropped to its knees, making pitiful noises.

"Thank you for your sacrifice. May you run free in the world of the kamuy."

He drew the blade in a wide cut across its throat and watched the blood pour out. He rolled the deer onto its side and with some tutoring from Naruto, successfully gutted it. Once he had finished, he wiped the blood from his hands and looked up at the tattooed man.

"That was the first deer I've ever killed on my own."

"I know. I'm proud of you." Naruto rested his hand on Neji's head. "You did very well."

Impulsively, Neji threw his arms around Naruto and embraced him. Naruto returned the gesture, thinking of the song based around the exploits of this hunt that he would create for the young man to recite at Iomante. Shino was not there to pass judgment on this display of gleeful affection, as he had gone off to find a suitable branch to tie the deer to so they could carry it back to camp. Akamaru just laid down and panted. When they let one another go, Neji had the biggest smile Naruto had seen thus far from the young man plastered on his face, even though he was fighting to restrain it.

"I suppose we should prepare to leave." Neji cleaned his knife like he had his hands.

"I'll get your bow."

And as they gathered their things, Naruto couldn't help but think that this deer's blood would have fed Sasuke for a week.

* * *

><p>Despite being ordered to stay home, Sasuke had followed them. Perhaps it was because of his loathing of people that he seemed to discover while the hunt was on. Perhaps it was because Sakura had watched over him like a hawk in Naruto's absence. According to her, he had attempted to bite her and she'd been forced to set him right with a few good wallops. The downward spiral of anger seemed to grow steeper after Naruto returned home and Neji had begun to visit them frequently, mostly to give Naruto some of the more palatable varieties of local vegetation and sometimes just to talk. He supposed Sasuke disdained these visits because it meant that he wasn't allowed to talk until their guest had left, which meant he wasn't able to beg. The sole time the creature had attempted to play with him to receive blood in another's presence, Neji had nearly stabbed him in the head because he thought it was an assault, which was a half-correct assumption. After many talks, Naruto had managed to downgrade boiling hatred to strained tolerance of Sasuke's presence and though he'd gotten nowhere regarding Sasuke's view of Neji—it still remained as low as the worm on the food chain—he figured that Sasuke's sheer abhorrence towards the young man would dissuade him from joining them on this venture.<p>

Unfortunately, his figuring had been incorrect and even after the first round of orders to go home, the upiri stubbornly trooped on, going so far as to give his chain to Naruto to explain in no uncertain terms that he would be joining them whether they liked it or not. The young Hyuuga led the two to a spot near the heperset, a fitting place for a bear block removal. Sasuke sat by the Kucan's pen, having grown a sort of attachment to the beast and watched Naruto dig a hole.

Neji's tools today were simple. He had with him a short, hollowed out bamboo stalk, a small pot full of bear grease, and a waterskin. "Remove your pants, tepa, and sandals. This might get a little messy."

Naruto looked uneasily at the bamboo. "What exactly are you going to be doing?"

"Please just follow my instructions. It makes it easier that way. And I suggest making that hole bigger. At least twice that size."

Naruto widened and deepened the hole, the dirt sticking under his fingernails as he made it to Neji's specifications. Then he kicked off his sandals, dropped his pants, and untied his tepa. To his eternal credit, Neji seemed more focused on the upcoming process to his dangling genitals.

"Sit seiza over the hole. Now, bend over like you're praying." Neji adjusted his position slightly. "I suggest resting your head on your hands, since this may take a while. Good. Now, raise your hips and spread your legs wider. Wider. A bit more. Good. Relax. This may feel strange, but it won't last long."

Naruto smelled grease. Even when he felt Neji's thoroughly coated fingers massaging the area around his anus, he tried not to panic. After repeated coaxing to relax and a few minutes of massage, Neji inserted a pair of fingers into his rectum and stretched his inner walls, coating them with grease. Naruto immediately clamped down and tried to force Neji out, but the man simply waited for him to relax again and resumed preparing him.

"You're doing very well. Now comes the hard part."

Neji picked up the bamboo pole and greased one end of it. Steadying it over Naruto's hole, he slowly pressed the greased end a couple inches into the hunter's body. "Pirka."

"I don't know if I want to do this. Maybe we should go back to the all-plant diet for another couple days and see if it works-"

"Quiet."

Neji held the pole in place as he opened the waterskin with his teeth and took in a great gulp of water that made his cheeks bulge like a frog. He put his lips to the other end of the pole and forced the water into Naruto's tight anus. The hunter howled into the earth as the warm water flooded his guts and tried to lift his head. Neji quickly pushed it back down and took in another mouthful of water and filled the pole once more, repeating this process until the waterskin was empty. He moved to side of his patient, removing the pole and swiftly pushing the cheeks of Naruto's rump together as he put one foot on Naruto's his back to prevent any unwanted movement.

"It's going to be uncomfortable, but you have to stay here until I let you up. You have a big block and I'm trying to get out as much of it as I can at once."

Naruto moaned as he felt the water loosening and softening the blockage, the liquid sloshing around in his intestines when Neji moved. Ten minutes passed and he was in sheer agony. Instinct told him to force out the water, but Neji told him to wait just a bit longer and Naruto attempted to relax. It was difficult, how vehemently his body rejected this invasion. Neji pressed the cheeks together harder when he noticed a squirt of foul water from his patient's anus and waited out the final five minutes.

"Clench your anus until you're over the hole and then let it out."

Neji released him and Naruto propped himself up on his arms as he emptied his guts into the hole. Groaning as he felt the immense pressure on his abdomen dissipate, he felt embarrassed as the plops continued on steadily and the hole, which he thought was plenty big enough, nearly ran over with his offal. Neji offered him a scrap of fabric to wipe with and Naruto cleaned up thoroughly, blushing as he redressed and buried the ghastly smelling waste.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think that a laxative would help in this case." Neji picked up his waterskin and grease, but left the bamboo.

Naruto couldn't think of anything to say. Small talk wasn't exactly at the forefront of his mind.

"It's okay. It's not just you. I had to do this to Sarutobi last moon. He reacted about the same way."

Knowing the old man had undergone the treatment made Naruto feel relieved. He wasn't alone in this strange and somewhat degrading procedure. "Thank you, Neji."

"Do you..." Neji tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear. "...do you really think I'm pirka okkay?"

While Naruto supposed that Neji could have picked worse times to ask that and that he didn't really want to answer that right now, he supposed the young man deserved a proper answer. "Yeah. You'll have a lucky wife. Not that my opinion matters."

"Your opinion matters..." Neji raised his head. "...more than anyone else's."

"I'm honored." Naruto knew what was coming.

"I think that you're pirka okkay too." Neji stepped closer. "Will you be my tures?"

Before Naruto could respond, Neji chastely kissed him and ran back to the village. Sasuke roared with laughter from the heperset. Naruto shot him a dirty look as he untied the chain he'd wrapped around part of the pen to ease Neji's mind. That creature had no right to be mocking the confession when he made a fool of himself on such a regular basis with his incessant begging.

"Is that how your kind copulates? That is the most disgusting thing I have seen in my life!" Sasuke laughed again, then broke into a fit of coughing.

"We weren't copulating, kuykuy." Naruto yanked on the chain to get Sasuke on his feet. "He was curing my bear block and then he told me that he burns for me."

"How disappointing. I can't begin to imagine what you do for copulation if that's how you perform medicine."

"Quiet, kunne kupapa, or I won't let you drink my blood. I'm almost finished with your clothes."

Sasuke shut his mouth instantly. Blood was serious business and had to be treated accordingly.

* * *

><p>Finally, with Sasuke too tired to protest and sustaining his life on only what the kapap brought him at night, the outfit was finished in time for Iomante tomorrow.<p>

"Here, kunne kuykuy. I'll help you dress."

"Eat first," Sasuke rasped. His throat was perpetually dry, a side-effect of his prolonged hunger.

"I guess that'd be a wiser idea. You're probably going to make a mess." Sitting on the creature's skin-covered bed, he extended his hand. "You shouldn't have starved yourself."

"You should've just let me drink as much as I wanted." Sasuke rested his brittle claw on Naruto's hand. He hoped it did not break in the middle of the incision. He had started to fall apart these last few days.

"I was..." Naruto didn't know if should admit it to the upiri who was liable to use it to his advantage. "...afraid. I mean, I've taken care of you for so long and I don't want you to just treat me like a meal. I wanted you to think of me as a friend. Plus, every time you drank, you got stronger. I didn't exactly want you to kill me either."

"I quit killing your kind when they started killing mine."

Sasuke slid Naruto's sleeve up and sliced over his palm, across his wrist, and up his forearm without bothering with the preparation. Naruto hissed at the pain, but kept steady as Sasuke slurped hungrily at his arm. Drool poured over the flesh in waves, numbing the pain. Feeding took an abnormally long time, half an hour at his estimate. He felt weak afterward, wondering how much blood Sasuke had taken. For some reason, he felt like laying down. He did. The ceiling looked so far away. Why did he build his ceiling so high? He asked Sasuke, but the upiri didn't seem to know. Sasuke waved his hand in front of his face and Naruto pressed himself deeper into the bed, trying to avoid the claws. When had they grown that long? They were like giant fishing hooks. Maybe if he played dead, Sasuke wouldn't gouge out his eyes. He closed his eyes and laid as still as he could.

"Perkele!"

That weird language again. The rock-gargling one. He sounded really upset. He tried to play deader.

"Don't fall asleep! Perkele!" Sasuke panicked, saying something about taking too much, but Naruto was getting too tired to hear articulation. "Don't sleep, don't sleep, don't sleep!"

Silly kunne kupapa. A nap wouldn't hurt.

Naruto felt his jaw being opened and Sasuke's mouth being pressed to his. He knew it was Sasuke because of the fangs that digging into his cheek. Warm spit began gushing into his mouth and he had to swallow, though it was difficult because of his reclined position. Realizing this, Sasuke pulled him into a seated stance and continued pouring his saliva into the hunter. After a few frantic minutes, he withdrew and examined Naruto. The man seemed dazed, but more alert.

"Don't die, don't die, don't die..." he whispered frantically. Looking towards the one of the windows, he sent out a screech far beyond the man's range of hearing, desperately calling on the kapap.

"What...?" Naruto asked groggily.

"I took too much. I called for the kapap. They can help."

The first of the kapap arrived. Sasuke opened his mouth and swallowed the blood it passed on to him, storing it in his second stomach. Every new attendant brought more blood and Sasuke desperately processed the intake until the second stomach was full and changed to the appropriate blood type. He lifted Naruto's wrist and licked it numb, then sunk his fangs in and began injecting the blood into Naruto. After an hour and a half, Naruto had returned to some semblance of normalcy. Sasuke dismissed the kapap swarm and curled up in the corner.

Somewhat lightheaded, Naruto stood up and went to Sasuke, resting his hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry..." Sasuke whispered. "I almost killed you like I killed her. It's my fault. It's all my fault."

"It's both our faults."

"I should've drank the animal blood. But I didn't."

Because he was stupid. Because he was still technically a child in the upiri world. Because he didn't learn from his mistakes.

"I shouldn't have made you wait so long to feed from me."

"No. It's my fault. Mine alone."

He was stupid, good-for-nothing, insignificant. He was just a baby. Not like his brother. The wise one. The level-headed one. The honorable one.

"Stop blaming yourself!" Naruto barked. "It happened and now it's done. The past has passed."

So Sasuke stopped verbalizing his self-depreciation and simply thought it instead. Naruto caressed his hair, but he didn't know why. He supposed that was intended to make him feel better. It didn't. He feigned a smile, but Naruto wasn't falling for it and put his arms around him. Sasuke was in hell. There was no reason for Naruto to be this kind to him.

"It'll be alright, Sasuke-kuykuy. Both of us made mistakes that we learned from. We survived and that's what matters."

Reluctantly, Sasuke leaned into the embrace. "Do I have to put the clothes on now?"

"No. We can wait until tomorrow night, while we're having the Iomante feast."

"Okay." Sasuke sat in silence for a while. "Are you afraid of me?"

"Terrified."

"I thought so. You're shaking." Sasuke expected about as much, given that he had nearly murdered him.

"I know. I'm trying to work past it. I know it was an accident."

Fear filled the air in the gap between Sasuke's nose and Naruto's neck. He could not tell who it belonged to.

"It's okay. I'm afraid of you too."

0o0

And there ends the long-ass part one. There were some parts I really wanted to expand upon but fatigue compiled with the fact that would've made this a sixty page chapter instead of its currently monstrous forty-one made me end up not doing that. This will either be two or three parts, depending on how the next chapter turns out. I have to confess, I don't really know anything about _Marebito_, which was one of the inspirations for the art this was based off of, but based on the description, it kinda sounds like _Let the Right One In_, which I have read and so I guess I can kinda see where Skully was going with that aspect and hopefully incorporate some of those characteristics into the next chapter.

Anyway, feel free to leave questions, comments, and panties here if you so desire (if it's the latter, please make sure they are clean before you drop them off) because I know you at the very least, have questions. Like 'what's up with Naruto calling Sasuke those k-word nicknames?' or 'will Neji and Naruto hook up?' or 'what's up with Sasuke's anatomy?' or 'can you tell me more about the Ainu?' or 'is that _really_ the best way to give an enema?' or 'are there any more of Sasuke's kind?' or 'WHAT THE FUCK IS SASUKE?' or 'WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS UP WITH SASUKE'S ANATOMY?' I mean, the dude keeps his man-banana on the inside, has a second stomach, and can do that freaky jaw trick. I would be _amazed_ if not a single one of you wanted some goddamn answers.

And just so you know, I'm laughing my ass off over here because of how Sasuke's dick is. Totes linking my reference image after it appears in the story. And while I'm not going to show you that just yet, have a nice picture of what Sasuke's outfit looks like and mentally switch in the right colors. No, he is not wearing the crown. Remove the spaces and type in the dots, as usual, gaizus. http: / upload(dot)wikimedia(dot)org /wikipedia /commons /6 /61 /AinuSan(dot)jpg

Until next time...

~YamiTenshi~


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